Have fun and at the same time maybe save an evildoer from almost certain damnation! Harold W. Vadney III, libeller, fraud and perjurer without equal, needs your help and spiritual guidance! Find the right Biblical quotations to help him turn away from sin!

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I am a professional translator in the combinations French>English and German>English. I hold qualifications from the University of Adelaide (BA, DipCompSc), the Australian National University (LittB), the University of Geneva (Certificat de spécialisation en linguistique), and the the UK-based Institute of Linguists (Diploma in Translation for both my language combinations).
I am an implacable opponent of bullshit in all its forms.

vendredi 22 août 2008

Psalm 152??

Recently, on his blog, the Vadney quoted a mysterious “Psalm 152”. As it happens, there are only 150 Psalms. The verses he quotes are obviously inauthentic, and the first reaction is to wonder where on earth he got this crap from. Crap it may be, but not bad enough to be an original Vadney creation.

O, Lord, how long must people from all nations suffer, because ofbigotry, prejudice, indifference, and greed.Everyday [sic] we see the weak and the poor humiliated,and the nations are at war.We know you hear the cry of the poor, and you listen to our prayers.Come to our aid O, Lord less [sic]we grow weary and faint of heart.Our prayers and sacrifices rise up to you,With each rising and setting of the sun.We trust in you O, Lord, that the wicked will receive retributionand the virtuous their reward.Praise to you Lord for your promisesand faithfulness.We will always give you Praiseand Thanksgiving all the days of our life.

In fact, the above was taken from the site of a bunch of crackpots calling themselves the “St. Agnes Charismatic Prayer Group”, who have published a collection of 10 “psalms”, under the following rubric:

The ten psalms below represent a collection of psalms written by members of the St. Agnes Charismatic Prayer Group. They came about as a result of a study group given by the Diocesan Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office. They have been numbered 151 to 160 and are not to be confused with the Book of Psalms written several centuries ago.

Several centuries ago?! More like three millennia ago!! These people, despite their religious pretensions, know less about the Bible than the average village atheist. And if they want to avoid confusion with the Book of Psalms, why do they continue the numbering sequentially from where the Book of Psalms left off?

For his part, the Vadney does not bother acknowledging his source; so one can only assume he doesn’t even know this is not a genuine Psalm. or he is trying to deceive his readers into thinking it is one. I note in passing that while the Vadney has corrected the obvious blunder of “less” for “lest”, he has left the equally cretinous “Everyday” for “Every day” intact.

Hmmm. The “weak and poor humiliated”? Is the Vadney thinking of himself in quoting these verses? I must admit that “weak” is not really an adequate word to describe Vadney. Perhaps “impotent” would be closer to the mark. But we do know he has recently claimed to be “a poor person”. Still, if he feels “humiliated”, so much the better. He deserves to be humiliated with his lies and venom.

His parting remark is:

When all else seems vainglorious and the wicked work their mischief and seek victims, pray!

Well, one wonders what Vadney means by “vainglorious” here. Of course, everything the narcissistic little worm does is vainglorious, especially praying. And I happen to know that the Vadney, a “wicked” person if ever there was one, is actively seeking out victims: writing unctuous little emails to people seeking to either entrap them or recruit them as witnesses for his next masturbatory court case. Is the “prayer” meant for him or for his intended victims?

PS: How apt!

It has just been drawn to my attention that there are in fact five “Apocryphal Psalms of David”. Apparently, neither the charismatic loonies mentioned above nor the Vadney were aware of them either (but then I’m not a Christian: what’s their excuse?). [Content deleted due to factual query. I will rewrite this section when I get time to check the Apocryphal Psalms. None of this detracts from the fact that the Vadney tried to p(s)alm off a contemporary writing as a canonical, then an Apocryphal, Psalm.]

10 commentaires:

Yes, of course there are only 150 psalms. Though a flaming atheist myself, I'm well aware of that fact. Unlike most believers, I've actually read the Bible. Most of it is deadly dull, but some parts are OK. (Most Jews and Christians appear not even to know about the pornographic bits.) And I think that cultivated Westerners do need a certain familiarity with Jewish mythology and the offshoot known as Christ-inanity.

The text that Mr Vadney quoted (without citation—and wasn't he complaining about "copyright" not long ago?) is obviously inauthentic; it doesn't look at all like the Hebrew Scriptures. After only a couple of lines, I recognised it as a modern interpolation.

And "several centuries ago" is especially rich. Don't these people know enough about their damn fool religion to realise that the Old Testament (of which the book of Psalms is a part) must have been written before the New, which refers to events (true and fictitious) that would have taken place two thousand years ago, and that therefore the psalms have to be considerably more than two thousand years old? In fact, they were recorded around 2500 BCE, and they had probably existed for centuries before that. Being psalms, they survived in the oral tradition of the Israëlites long enough to be written down.

I suggest the following genuine psalm instead, Psalm xxxvi:

1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

4 He deviseth himself mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.

...

10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.

12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

Anyone at all familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures can tell in a flash that that rubbishy pseudo-psalm from the ChRÉTIeNS charismatiques obviously is of recent authorship and cannot possibly have come down to us from the ancient Israëlites. It was written by some goddam Anglo moron who didn't even know that the Hebrew Scriptures were composed more than "several centuries ago".

Yes, you only need to look at expressions like “people from all nations”, or “bigotry, prejudice” to spot it as something from the modern era. The ancient Hebrews just weren’t really into internationalism or ecumenism.

Sorry about the typo above. Anyway, you are right in general about the Psalms. I was just being picky. At least I know the difference between a Psalm and a piece of crap composed in the last fifty years, unlike some. He thinks copying the pope’s shoes makes him a theologian!